Generals

Generals Aircraft: Tactics for Their Use and Defense
By General Jafar | July 10, 2003

Individual Plane Tactics

Raptor: This is tricky for effective base assault, because they're fragile and take wide turns, often ending up as Gatling chow on the ground after a strike, and are more expensive than MiGs, which do much better in groups. But these aside, they will destroy most tanks in a single volley when upgraded, and the fun really begins when Raptors level up, as a heroic Raptor can silence a Gatling tank, as opposed to lower levels requiring two. Plus, Elite or Heroic aircraft will self-repair. But how to get up to that level without sacrificing the Raptor?

A full airfield of Raptors is great to have for picking off tanks long before they reach your base. Set them to individual groups for quick access, and when your spy drones spot a tank group approaching, send them out and attack them when they get a good distance away, so they can't turn tail and get behind anti-air defenses. For taking out other aircraft, Raptors don't do too well normally. You need two to kill armored MiGs or Chinooks, even when upgraded. Ground them, and send out Hummers with Missile Defenders when you spot incoming aircraft.

Stealth Fighter: This is effectively a two-trick pony, they kill base defenses, and graze on China's suppliers. They cannot do too well individually against other ground units, unless your aim is to take out enemy mobile anti-airs. Use them to clear a path for Auroras or a ground assault.

Aurora Bomber: These things are sweet stuff, even though they have half the price of a superweapon. You can bomb the enemy base defenses, you can kick the living $*&@ out of tank clusters, you can even paralyze the enemy by blowing up their power supply or production, and there is nothing the opponent can do about it except kill the Aurora(s) after they deliver. The problem is them living to strike again, since they're tough investments to swallow and too fragile to easily make it back.

Note that you need only two Auroras to kill any standard base structure, including defenses, and one to kill U.S. Cold Fusion Reactors. However, one Aurora bomb will destroy ANY vehicle in it's destructive radius, bar none. Gatling tanks will die, Hummers will die, Quads will die, even Overlords will crack and cook off. Try and take advantage of this when striking assault columns, focus your fire on the anti-air units, so the chances of the Auroras coming back alive are greater. When hitting bases, when and if you can, black out the enemy base or use Stealths to kill base defenses when your Auroras attack, and micromanage the Auroras as they fly back.

Commanche: Helicopter gunships are the only exception to the rule of thumb that aircraft alone cannot kill the enemy. Like Auroras, they are excellent on offense or defense. But like Auroras, their armor is thin, but groups of six or more can administer enough punishment at once to render anti-air vehicles obsolete. Rocket barrages will crush enemy tank clusters when you have many Commanches firing.

If enemy air defenses are down as the result of an air strike, have a large Commanche group fly in and destroy the enemy as if it were a tank attack. This tends to be quite easier than using a group of tanks, since whatever could shoot the gunships down has already been dispatched. Use the Rocket Barrage to raze structures whenever you can, as this process takes less time than strafing it with hellfire missiles and chainguns.

MiG: Ah, the MiG. A target of love and hatred alike when dozens of them scream into player's bases and torch them into smoking piles of ash. As you MiG fans and MiG haters will know, they are easy to mass produce, powerful in groups, and powerless when not fully upgraded. Because of their tight turning radius, they won't rear up against anti-air defenses for long, and their armor can take a beating, so that makes them perfect for hit-and-run tactics,. I don't think they need much explaining for their use, if you think they do, go up against a seasoned China player or try it yourself.